A cellar door with 22 driving-range bays: the Bishell family’s next chapter
Marlborough’s fifth-generation Bishell family plans to bring wine tasting, a bistro and social golf together on grazing land at Caythorpe Green.
A cellar door has long been part of the Bishell family’s ambitions for its Marlborough wine business. The proposed route there is less conventional: a hospitality venue organised around a driving range. According to Golf Industry Central’s 2 November report, brothers Simon and Scott Bishell are behind Caythorpe Green, a planned golf, wine and dining development on 10 hectares of family farmland on New Renwick Road in Blenheim. Resource consent had been lodged; the report does not establish that it had been granted.[1]
The family’s agricultural operations in Marlborough date to 1880. Across five generations, the business has expanded into horticulture and viticulture, adding its own wine label in 2015. Caythorpe Green would take that diversification into tourism and hospitality, giving the wine business a place to receive visitors while adding an activity with its own appeal. Crucially, the proposed site is grazing land: the development would not require the removal of active vineyards.[1]
Hospitality at the hitting bay
The clearest expression of the idea is in the range’s proposed layout. Twelve fully covered bays would have Trackman technology alongside seating, bar leaners and food-and-drink service. That makes the bay a place for a group to settle, rather than simply a station for hitting balls. A further 10 semi-outdoor bays are intended for conventional practice and swing work, giving the social side and the practice side distinct spaces within the same facility.[1]
A cellar door, bar and bistro would supply the hospitality offer. Their relationship to the golf is the interesting part: wine tasting and a meal need not depend on everyone in a party wanting to practise. Equally, service at the covered bays would allow food and drink to accompany the activity rather than require a separate restaurant stop. The reported plans do not yet specify a menu or tasting format.[1]
The golf offer would extend beyond the range to three indoor simulators, two club-fitting studios, retail and an 18-hole miniature course by SHANX Mini Golf. The latter is planned as a scaled-down version of a regulation course rather than obstacle-style mini-golf. In the proposed mix, that gives visitors another way to play without taking a range bay or committing to a full-sized course. Vines would also be planted directly around the range, connecting the golf setting to the family’s wine operation.[1]
Golf Industry Central reports that the Bishells would privately fund and retain ownership of the development, with Heller Golf managing it. The firm already operates the Sir Bob Charles Golf Centre in Christchurch. Its chief executive, Dave Saunders, describes the intended audience as including beginners, families, casual players and serious golfers—a broad brief reflected in the different kinds of playing space.[1]
The reported programme envisages staged openings and targets full completion in the first quarter of 2028. For prospective visitors, the useful distinction will be what each stage actually delivers: a working range, a cellar door and the complete food-and-golf outing are different propositions. The appeal of Caythorpe Green rests on bringing those elements together, not simply putting a wine label beside a golf facility.[1]
